By Chris
Notts County welcome Swindon Town to Meadow Lane this evening.
As openings to a season go, the Magpies have had arguably one of the toughest ones out there this year in League Two, with all four sides relegated from League One last season up against us in our first seven fixtures.
Kevin Nolan's charges have however navigated a very tricky start reasonably well, save for the opener against Coventry City of course, and tonight, another team expected to bounce right back up to comes to Nottingham for what the gaffer has described as "another tough ask".
History
Notts have met Swindon on 63 occasions, the first time being 103 years ago in the FA Cup.
On that day in January 1911, the Robins beat the Magpies 2-0 at the County Ground.
Of the 63 clashes, 24 have been won by Notts, 27 by Swindon, and 12 have been drawn.
The last meeting between the two was on 7 March 2015, away at the County Ground, and the Robins ran out 3-0 winners.
Current league position
Notts - third (13 points)
Swindon - ninth (10 points)
Run-down of the opposition's five games
Saturday 12th August – Swindon Town 1 Exeter City 1
Saturday 19th August – Morecambe 0 Swindon Town 1
Saturday 26th August – Swindon Town 0 Crawley Town 3
Saturday 2nd September – Swindon Town 1 Barnet 4
Saturday 9th September – Luton Town 0 Swindon Town 3
Opposition player fact sheet
Highest Goal Scorers; Luke Norris 4, Paul Mullin 4, Chris Hussey and Olly Lancashire 1.
Persistent Foulers; Donal McDermott 1 red card, Paul Mullin 3 yellow cards, James Dunne 2 yellow cards and Ellis Landolo 2 yellow cards.
The Key Players
Luke Norris is a very capable goal scorer who can instantly change the outcome of a game with his style of play, he likes to attack and sit off the defenders – this allows him to find the right amount of space in order to have a shot.
James Dunne is Swindon’s enforcer within the midfield, he can link play and generally cause a nuisance to the opposition defence.
Ollie Lancashire is also someone Notts should do their homework on, as the defender likes to get forward as much as possible and knows how to strike the ball.
Style of play, strengths, and weaknesses
Swindon like to use the flanks in order to get balls into the opposition's area, at times they try to cut it back at the last minute – this creates space for their offensive players.
They tend to be very direct, whilst asserting pressure as they build with momentum but are inclined to sit back and allow the opposition to attack themselves.
From an attacking stance they like to get the ball in and behind the last defenders, and can mix between passing on the ground and using the wider space available to them.
However, from a defensive point of view they don’t like teams being direct or patient within their own building and can be prone to giving fouls away.
Free kicks and set pieces will be vital for Notts, as will ensuring that the corner pieces are not wasted.
The Magpies will have to focus on getting the ball into the Swindon area so that it unnerves their defence and allows for swifter chances to come forward.
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